mazdaverx7

why are no leaks suspicious, lol? engine oil leak..that's a different story, lol. i get some drops on the garage floor but i check the oil twice a week..just because i'm a maintenance freak, lol. as far as the type of fluid that's in the reservoir, i have no idea. i'll have to pull some out and give it the ol' smell test. i'm guessing it could be power steering fluid, as there was a power steering fluid container behind the passenger seat when i bought the car back in may. i do however know that i'm supposed to be using dexron atf. i've been wanting to flush the system anyways, so this would give me a god excuse.

944Ross

It's suspicious because leaks are one of the most common complaints on 944 PS systems.

I wonder if someone dumped some StopLeak into the system, and it gummed up the pressure relief valve.

mazdaverx7

i was kinda thinking the same thing...

xschop

I just finished swapping out a spare Power rack last night because mine just started hemorrhaging profusely in the last week or so. While I had it apart, I took the hose off from pump to rack and blew it out after shooting carb cleaner down it. It seems like there could be some sort of restrictor in there?

Anyways I'm back on the road and the used rack is smooth and NO LEAKY....yet anyways....so I'm wondering if the Rennbay Power Rack rebuild kit is worth a damn? I want rebuild this one incase the used one blows it's load all of the sudden.

mazdaverx7

seems the fluid in my reservoir is a mix of power steering fluid AND atf...that's gotta go and i'll have to flush and refill with the proper atf.

xschop

Refresher course....Why ATF over PS fluid?

MAGK944

I have a story about ps fluid that I would like to share. I took my 944 to Pep Boys for a battery two years ago. I dont normally go there but they had a good deal on Bosch batteries so I left it there for them to fit. Thought what could possibly go wrong? Returned later, paid and drove off. The guy at the counter said in passing that he topped off all the fluids, part of the service and I thought nothing of it, thanked him.

Two months later my 6-month old recon steering rack started to leak, just as I thought I had it leak free. Took it to my regular P-shop who fitted the rack. I have always used them and they know these card. They told me it was my fault as I had put ps fluid in it and it caused the seals to perish. Do I have to finish this story....

....Pep Boys, When I asked them what fluid they used they said ps fluid. When I told them what had happened they said it must have been a bad rack.

....So I paid for another recon rack and labor at my shop and been leak free since.

It's just my story, pissed at the time but you live and learn. I suppose I could have pushed Pep Boys and probably got a result, but I just didn't want to argue with those wrench monkeys.

MAGK944

All ZF steering uses ATF only, don't use ps fluid see my previous post/story. It eventually eats all the seals inside.

xschop

Which Type ATF fluid and how does one go about completely flushing the old fluid out?

MAGK944

As per the manual ATF Dexron. You'll need 0.63qts but buy more and use it to flush that ps fluid out.

I'm convinced that all the leaks people have are because they use ps fluid instead of ATF. I don't have any leaks on any of my 3 power steering equipped 944's.

xschop

Dextron III ?

MAGK944

It just says Dextron in the manual, they probably didn't have III back then. I just use the cheapest one as long as it has the word Dextron on it somewhere.

mazdaverx7

back then it was just atf with Dexron. in the mid 90's (i believe..94 or 95), Dexron-IIE was replaced by Dexron-III..and i think we are up to Dexron-VI today.. Dexron-VI is backwards compatible so it should be fine for use in our p/s systems.

944Ross

I believe PS fluid has glycol added, whereas ATF is completely mineral-based.

mazdaverx7

not sure on that. all i know is that mine is a mix of fluids and that can't be too good..